Leader says Iran is ready to help, sort of

[Robbien]

TEHRAN, Iran Iran's president says he's willing to help the United States calm Iraq -- as long as Washington changes what he described as its "bullying" policy toward Iran.

In a speech today, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the U-S is "trapped in a quagmire" with nowhere to go.

He said Iran is ready to help -- on the condition that the U-S avoid "bullying and invading."

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry is denying reports that Iran is trying to organize a summit bringing together the leaders of Iran, Iraq and Syria.

http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=5729479&nav=81AX

[Ian David]

1. All Iran wants is piece...

as in, a piece of Iraq.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Looks like they may get a big piece of Iraq

either way.

If the US and our Iraqi puppets fall, guess who ends up with control of the oil?

[oblivious]

2. No country can rest easy with such anarchy and violence on its borders.

On streets of Tehran, urgency grows over helping U.S. exit Iraq

... "I'm worried to death when I see what is happening here. It could easily spread. ... I don't think the Americans understood the sort of people they were going to be dealing with," said Mohammed Zahedi, an Iranian businessman from Esfahan who goes to Baghdad's ancient market twice a week to buy supplies.

"Now I think they shouldn't even trust the people in Iraq, the people in that democracy," he said. "They should try to bring back the tribe and the religious figures to make some deals."

... Untold numbers of Iraqis have come to Iran to avoid attacks that U.S. and Iraqi troops seem incapable of stopping.

..."People come into my shop, and I ask them what life is like," said Javad Mousavi, an Iranian who owns a clock store. "They tell me they have no water, no electricity but . . . their main problem is everybody has a gun.

..."When we see terrible things on that side of the border, we know people can just come over here and do the same," Mousavi said. He added that he thought it was time for the Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian leadership to help.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0611260392nov26,1,3555010.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[sugapablo]

4. Sure...Iran wants to help...

....Destroy the United States. :)

I guess humiliation is a good start. ;)

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I can't dispute that we're in a quagmire,

or that our foreign policy has been based on bullying and invading. But one of the last places I need to hear about it from is Iran. I believe that they have every intention of setting themselves up as the new (albeit non-Arab) Saudi Arabia, sitting on top of the lion's share of the oil in the Middle East. They have a government that's nearly as crazy as the Bush crowd. I wouldn't put it past them to deliberately provoke the Bushies into an attack on the theory that this will unite the Muslim world behind them. We need to get a sane government into place ASAP so that at least one side in this mess is capable of rational behavior.

[ECH1969]

6. Ahmadinejad Predicts Collapse of Israel, U.S., U.K.

``The Zionist regime is on a steep downhill towards collapse and disgrace,'' Ahmandinejad told supporters at a rally of Basiji militia forces near Tehran today. In a reference to the U.S. and U.K., he said ``the collapse and crumbling of your devilish rule has started.'' The speech was carried live on state television.

Iran doesn't recognize Israel, and Ahmadinejad drew international condemnation after saying in October 2005 that Israel should be ``wiped off the map.'' The U.S. and Iran have had no diplomatic ties since 1980 following the seizure of diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

The U.K., which has an embassy in Tehran, is among the three European countries pushing for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The Iranian president also called on neighboring countries to drive out ``foreign occupiers,'' in a reference to U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aZ4VnVrSM8kE&refer=uk

[oblivious]

7. I wish he would define 'collapse'.

I'm assuming he means their attempts to control things in the Middle East.

[IntiRaymi]

8. I think you are taking this sabre rattling too seriously.

The issue is that he is usually either mistranslated, or taken out of context.
He is a populist, and a demagogue, in other words, he is a politician. As such, he has to rally the base every so often.

[Lurking Dem]

9. How curious

that you never post messages like this when it is Avigdor Lieberman spewing vile shit.

[Flanker]

15. Lieberman has power... that is probably why

Ahmadinejad cannot do anything much to Israel, but the former can do lots to Palestinians.

[brentspeak]

11. He's a slime, in other words.

And his base is slime.

[oblivious]

13. I don't regard this comment as sabre rattling at all.

But he often talks about Israel 'rotting from within', which of course has been mistranslated as 'Israel must be destroyed'.

Now he predicts the UK and US collapse as well, and I wonder if he means financial collapse (which I would agree with in the case of the US) or the collapse of its military and political influence in the Middle East and elsewhere, which also makes sense. His statements are always so vague as to be almost meaningless.

[stepnw1f]

10. The "Collapse" as in "Self-Destruction"

I understood him perfectly.

[qazplm]

12. yawn

to Ahmadinejad, even at our worst, we are still a bit further from collapse than Iran.

He needs to tend to some of his own issues, economy, democracy, freedom for women, respect for other religions, and stop funding terrorism.

Yes there are a bazillion things wrong with America, and we have a lot to fix, but it be a little easier taking pronouncements like this from a country that also wasnt mired in its own ethical/moral muck.

[Deja Q]

17. Seconded.

They say offshoring makes potential enemies less likely to attack.

Why not offshore to Iran?

(that's actually a half-serious response; there is a certain logic to it... you don't bite the hand that feeds you.)

[Pavulon]

14. We are the evil romans

except..

the tellar ulam design allows the complete destruction of nation states. Iran cant build a car. Never mind supercomputers, GPS, or advanced surgical procedures.

Iran is a poorly developed nation. They make nothing of value to the world. Dead dinosaur is their economy.

IBM patents 50000 ideas a year. We create, design, innovate, they oppress and control their population. Internet and TV are controlled.

All bark.

[Strelnikov_]

16. Same Shit, Different Day n/t

[Scurrilous]

20. Iran cant build a car?

Iran Car Production Nears 1 Million In 2005

http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=11247

<snip>

"Jan. 10, 2006 -- Iranian car manufacturers made a record of nearly one million vehicles in 2005, making the Islamic republic the Middle East's leading car producer, reports said Jan. 7. Industries ministry statistics published in newspapers said the country produced 984,000 vehicles in 2005, including 884,000 passenger cars and 104,000 heavy vehicles, altogether worth US$ 11.6 billion.

Iran's two major car manufacturers, Iran Khodro and Saipa, produced 553,000 and 413,000 vehicles respectively in 2005, with smaller companies making up the rest."

<snip>

"Iran imported 10,000 cars in 2005 and exported 15,000, mainly to Syria and the former Soviet Union. Iranian companies are hoping to improve the quality of their vehicles in a bid to increase exports to 100,000 cars in 2007."



Iran Khodro - Samand

[oblivious]

26. A net exporter of cars. I had no idea.

[oblivious]

24. The problem with the global economy is that IBM's patents benefit IBM, not America.

[greccogirl]

18. I wish this idiot would just shut up.

[BushOut06]

19. So Iran is plotting to eliminate the US and Britian?

He must be! After all, when he says that Israel won't exist for long, it means that he is planning direct action against Israel. Therefore, saying that the collapse of the US and UK has started, it must mean that he has already begun military action against us!

Unless, that is, he's speaking metaphorically. Naw, that wouldn't make sense, would it? It's much more sensational to take everything he says literally!

[knight_of_the_star]

21. Whatever

Six months ago he would have been on the right track. Now, barring a military coup, he missed the broadside of the barn there.

[w4rma]

22. His pipe dream. (nt)

[davidinalameda]

23. this regime is dangerous

enough crazies will answer his call and lead us further into war in the region

[Bucky]

25. I used to worry what the world thought OF Bush. Now I have to worry when the world thinks LIKE Bush.

Given all the issues we have with them, it's nutty that we can go 26 years without sending an ambassador over there--I mean besides Ollie North, obviously.